DE102004007057 discloses a concept of transmitting a DMX-512 signal for control of lighting bodies. Particularly, a DMX signal is created at a control console at a first location and compressed via a transmitting modem and modulated onto the usual power supply signal. The compressed DMX signal is then transmitted via the normal power supply network to a lighting system at a distant location. There, a receiving modem is provided which extracts the DMX signal and controls a lighting system with it. Alternatively, the transmission from the control console at the first location to the lighting system at the second location can take place wirelessly such that a radio transmitting modem is provided at the control console and that a radio receiving modem is provided at the distant location where the lighting system is located. Particularly, signals for controlling the color of the lighting body or signals for panning and/or rotating (PAN/TILT) are transmitted to the lighting body to activate one or multiple motors starting from these signals to direct the spot of the lighting body to a desired place.
Particularly, lighting bodies in the field of events or in the sector of stage lighting are often put up, taken down and put up again at another place. Furthermore, recent intelligent programmable lighting units have a high functionality and depending on form of design a high price. On the other hand, an organizer does not necessarily have to own a great number of programmable lighting units. Instead, the number of rental service providers, which lend out programmable lighting units from event to event as needed, increases.
Therefore, it can no longer be assumed that a lighting unit, once it has been put up, will remain at this place forever. Instead, exactly the opposite is becoming reality, namely that a lighting unit is put up at a place, then an event takes place, for example, for one or more days and weeks, and then the lighting unit is taken down again, transported to another location and put up there again for another event.
On the other hand, many intelligent devices used in the sector of stage lighting can be addressed by means of serial data protocols, to be able to transmit the numerous control signals, for example, concerning the brightness, the color, the direction of the spot, etc., to the lighting unit. In particular, a data line is piped hereby from the control console to the first device, then to the second device, then to the third, and so on. In order to achieve this, a data address must be assigned to the individual devices such that each device extracts the part of the data protocol or the channel which contains the data that is intended for the corresponding device.
A possibility for initializing the devices, i.e., to perform a set up for the devices, is using the DIP switches at the back of each device. This procedure, however, is complicated because the DIP switches are small and sensitive and can therefore be damaged due to frequent rough handling in the event sector. Additionally, the person adjusting the DIP switches had to know the binary code.
An alternative possibility is performing this set up initialization by displays and buttons of which there are often four which have the functions Yes/No/More/Less. Alternatively, there are rotation encoders. With them operation has become more comfortable. But now the problem is that power supply is needed for the setting of the devices, i.e., to supply the displays and buttons or the rotation encoders with current. It is especially this supply which is often not available for systems which are put up in alternate halls, like systems which are “on tour” together with a band. In most cases, these devices must be hung up first, while the mobile power supply is installed only later on and the supply of the hall is too weak or turned off. Once the devices have been hung up under the ceiling in a concert hall, adjusting becomes a task for acrobats.
An alternative possibility is improving the adjustment by means of accumulator-buffered systems. This does not render the handling independent of voltage, but has a few major disadvantages. An accumulator and an elaborated charging electronics are necessary. Accumulators contain problematic substances as, for example, cadmium, and are therefore critical. Additionally, accumulators only have a limited lifetime and they further have the problem of self discharge. This means, when the device is not operated regularly, the accumulator will be empty one day or the other and will no longer be of use. This can occur particularly in the rental sector when a lighting unit has not been lent out for a longer period. In case of a supply with an accumulator the power electronics of a remote controlled lighting unit must be decoupled elaborately, for example for motor drives and control electronics, because the accumulator would rapidly be empty when having to supply the complete device with current. On the other hand, when supplying the whole device with current by the accumulator, the accumulator would be unnecessarily big and heavy. When the electronics for the controller and for normal operation of the lighting unit are decoupled, a data address is adjustable but a functional test is still not viable because the device itself does not run which is why the functionality and/or correctness of the adjustment cannot be tested.